1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a technology for filling a capillary with solution of a substance to be introduced into a cell.
2. Description of the Related Art
A technique of injecting solution into a cell with a capillary is known as a microinjection technique (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-344036). In the microinjection technique, a solution, such as deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), compounds, or chemical agents, is filled in a capillary, and the capillary is carefully penetrated into a cell and the solution is injected into the cell. The capillary is a fine needle-like glass tube with a sharp tip for penetrating in the cell. Conventionally, an operator manually fills the solution in the capillary.
The microinjection technique has been profoundly used in regenerative medical techniques or techniques of developing new drugs. As a result, it has become necessary to stock a large number of capillaries filled with solution for penetrating into cells. However, if solution is manually filled in a capillary as in the conventional technique, it is difficult to maintain the quality of filling and it is also difficult to fill a large number of capillaries in given time.